“Not since Devon loosened them last night,” she admitted.
“Okay, we’ll get you checked out and then home as soon as we can,” Caleb said before hugging her. “It’s good to have you back honey.”
“Thanks Caleb,” she stated as he and the nurse left leaving her with her two favorite people.
Tate helped her as she tried to sit up more and then pulled her into a full hug and she felt the tears break free again. “Mel-Mel, you’re safe. Kevin’s dead, he can’t ever hurt you again.”
She shook her head and pulled back to stare at them both.
“How could you all do that?” she asked them, wiping the tears away. “How could you begin to tell me to choose between you? You do know that there’s no way I could ever do that, right?”
“Mel, at first I knew you couldn’t and I didn’t want you to hurt yourself trying to do it,” Jordan told her. “I would never choose to leave you.”
“I didn’t know if the studs would cut the rope or not and I wasn’t going to let you get hurt,” Tate added. “Mel, I meant it when I said I’d lay down my life for you. You’re my best friend; I wouldn’t be who I am without you. I wouldn’t be where I am without you, but if it came down to it, if there were no other way, you’d choose Jordan and I’m okay with that.”
Mel shook her head before hugging him again. “I love you Tate. Thank you, for so much.”
“I love you too honey,” he said kissing her cheek as the nurse came back in to take her upstairs for the CT scan.
Jordan held her hand the entire way up and when he let go she was more worried than ever that she’d lose him.
Chapter 17
Mel settled back against the bed as Jordan closed the bedroom door. They were finally alone even though it was well after two in the morning. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him since they’d finished with the scan, and she couldn’t stop her mind from playing the worst scenarios over and over again.
They’d gone from the hospital to Ford and Gabrielle’s house, who’d insisted they stay with them to avoid the press. They’d gotten word of the story and were camped outside the hospital before she’d been released with orders from her brother-in-law to rest and take it easy. The entire family had come over, to see for themselves that she was in one piece. She couldn’t really complain because she knew it meant they truly cared and that made the possibility of losing Jordan and them even worse.
“Mel…”
“Jordan,” they said at the same time as he came back over to the bed.
She took a breath and started again as he sat down beside her. “Jordan…”
“It’s okay baby,” he said lowering his mouth to gently kiss her. “I know making a choice between me and Tate is hard. He’s been the one you’ve always relied on, choosing him doesn’tmean you don’t care about me, it just means you care about him more.”
“Jordan, I don’t. I love you both. Yes Tate’s been in my life longer but the two of you occupy such different roles, I honestly couldn’t choose. Part of it is that I couldn’t imagine being able to live with myself if I did choose…if I knew I was the reason one of you weren’t here anymore. I couldn’t breathe thinking about that. Then when I thought about losing Tate I saw all of the childish things, the memories, and inside jokes disappear and that would mean losing a part of myself that I don’t know I could get back, but if I lost you…” She broke off as the tears overwhelmed her. “If I lose you, I don’t know if I’d be able to breathe, laugh, love. You’re more than just my friend Jordan.”
“Mel,” he said letting the slightest trace of hope through.
“I know I’ve said I love you before, that we pretended that we felt that way when we got married and I do love you Jordan.”
“I know you do Mel. You love me and Tate the same.”
“No, Jordan, I don’t. I love my best friend Tate, but I would never be able to make love with him the way I do with you. I’d never be able to do it with anyone that’s not you. I don’t just love you as a friend Jordan and I told myself I’d tell you even if you don’t feel the same because all of this, it showed me that I can’t hide the truth. I have been in love with you from the day we got married, before really.”
“Mel…” He groaned covering her lips with his and kissing her until they were both breathless. “God baby.”
“It’s okay that you don’t…”
“I do, Mel. I was in love with you the day I married you. I was in love with you the day I asked you to marry me. I was in love with you the day you hustled me at pool. I was in love with you the day you started working for me, and I was in love with you the day you first smiled at me.”
She shook her head laughing slightly. “I smiled at you after the meeting.”
“Exactly Mel,” he replied with a grin. “I couldn’t admit it to myself at the time, but Nicole pointed it out after you’d left the dress shop that day. She said all it’d take from you would be a kiss and I’d be proposing, and it was true baby.”
“You’re telling me we’ve spent nearly six years pretending to love each other all the while actually doing it?” she asked with a grin and a sheen of happy tears.
“I have Mel. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you over and over but I knew I’d trapped you in this relationship and I refused to take advantage of it. A piece of me was thrilled to hear your story because it gave me the reason to make you mine. I told myself I was going to make you fall in love with me and as each year passed and you treated me the same way you did Tate…”
